San Francisco
San Francisco Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 city boards
- Project board
- 28 streetcar markers
- 87 project cards
- 23 scoring tokens (18 round advantage tokens and 5 hexagonal district completion tokens)
- 9 skyscraper figures (before the first game, the skyscrapers must be assembled according to the instructions below)
- Scoring board
- 6 bonus cards (3 cards in each of 2 kinds)
- 12 commitment tokens
- 12 bonus tokens (3 tokens in each of 4 kinds)
- Builder's Order token
- 10 foundation tokens
How to build a skyscraper yourself: fold the printed cardboard piece along its scored lines, then slot the folded body down into the base to form the standing skyscraper figure.
Setup
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Place the scoring board in the middle of the table, and the project board below it.
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On the scoring board, in the marked spaces, place the tokens and the bonus cards, as well as the hexagonal district completion tokens. Then, depending on the number of players taking part in the game, place the round advantage tokens on the appropriate spaces on the scoring board. In a 4-player game, all the advantage tokens are placed; in a 3-player game, tokens with a value of "-1" are not placed; and in a 2-player game, tokens with values "-1" and "1" are not placed. In 2- and 3-player games, unused tokens should be set aside in the box.
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On the project board, place the foundation tokens, forming stacks of 2 tokens on the marked spaces. The number of tokens depends on the number of players taking part in the game:
- in a 4-player game, all 10 tokens are placed,
- in a 3-player game, 8 tokens are placed (leaving an empty space marked with the 3-player symbol),
- in a 2-player game, 6 tokens are placed (leaving empty spaces marked with the 3-player and 2-player symbols).
In 2- and 3-player games, unused tokens should be set aside in the box.
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Each player receives 1 city board. Players place their boards in front of themselves.
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Next, shuffle all the project cards, form a face-down deck from them, and place it next to the project board.
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The commitment tokens, the skyscraper figures, the Builder's Order token, and the streetcar markers should be placed within reach of all players.
You are ready to play!
Course of Play
The game is started by the person who most recently rode a streetcar. Then players take their turns in clockwise order. Play continues in this way until the end-of-game conditions are met (see "End of Game" below).
Player's Turn
On their turn, a player must perform 1 of 2 actions:
- A – lay out a project,
- B – realize projects.
A – Lay Out a Project
When a player performs the lay-out-a-project action, they take the top project card from the project deck and place it face up in any 1 of the 3 areas below the project board. All project cards placed in a given area must remain visible.
If a player places a project card with the foundation symbol, they place a foundation token on it, taken from the first stack on the left of the project board.
Example 1: Karol lays out project card 1 onto the project board. Because it is a project card with the foundation symbol, he places foundation token 2 on it.
B – Realize Projects
When a player performs the realize-projects action, they take all the project cards from 1 area of their choosing below the project board. A player can only perform this action if the number of commitment tokens they hold is less than the number of project cards being drawn. Every time a player draws project cards, they must additionally draw 1 commitment token, regardless of the number of cards drawn (see "Commitments" below).
A player may place the drawn project cards on their city board in any order they choose. While placing cards, they must follow the general building rules (see "Building Rules" below). If a player cannot or does not want to place one of the drawn cards on their city board, they discard it to the box.
Example 2: Alicja has 1 commitment token. On her turn, she may either draw cards from the left area below the project board, or lay out a new project card. Alicja decides to draw 2 project cards, and so also takes another commitment token.
Commitments
Every time a player performs the realize-projects action, they must additionally draw 1 commitment token and place it next to their city board. The number of commitment tokens a player holds affects which action they may perform (see "Realize Projects" above). Because of this, a player will often be unable to perform the realize-projects action and will instead be forced to perform the lay-out-a-project action.
In rare cases, when a player would draw a commitment token but the pool of tokens is empty, use any substitute.
Discarding Commitments
At every point in the game, at least 1 player must hold no commitment tokens. When all players hold at least 1 commitment token, each of them discards 1 commitment token (see Example 3 below).
Example 3: Ola holds no commitment tokens 1 and decides to realize projects. She draws 1 project card 2 and 1 commitment token 3. Then every player discards 1 commitment token 4.
Project cards can also carry other symbols, described further on in these rules.
Note! Neighboring cards are cards that touch along their sides. Cards are not neighbors diagonally.
District Completion
The player who is first to complete the construction of a district (places 5 cards in a given row) receives the corresponding district completion token and places it on the right side of their city board, next to that row. Each such token is worth 1 victory point at the end of the game.
Building Rules
The city board consists of 5 rows, and each of them consists of 5 spaces. Each row has a different color, which represents 1 of the 5 districts of San Francisco. Project cards must be arranged on the city board in the rows whose colors match the colors of the cards. When a player places a card in a row, they add it to the first empty space from the left side. If there is no longer a free space for a project card in a given row, the card must be discarded to the box.
Project Cards
Project cards come in 6 different colors — 5 colors represent the districts of San Francisco, and the color black is for universal cards, which can be placed in any row. The color marking is found on the left side of the card.
On some project cards a card value is shown, expressed as a number of people symbols.
Tram Tracks and Depots
Cards with printed streetcar tracks can be connected into a streetcar network. For a card to be part of such a network, it must be placed adjacent to the depot printed at the bottom of the city board, to another card already belonging to the streetcar network, or to a streetcar-depot card.
For clarity, every card with streetcar tracks that is connected to the streetcar network should be marked by placing a streetcar marker on it. When a player places a card with tracks adjacent to the depot at the bottom of the board (any space adjacent to the depot symbol) or adjacent to any card that is part of the streetcar network, a streetcar marker must be placed on it. If previously placed cards become connected to the network, streetcar markers must be placed on them as well.
After placing a streetcar depot (a card with the streetcar symbol), a streetcar marker must be placed on it immediately.
Example 4: Karol places a card in his green district 1. The card connects to the streetcar network printed at the bottom of the board, so Karol places a streetcar marker on this card 2. Thanks to this, previously placed cards in the yellow district gain a connection to the streetcar network, and Karol also places streetcar markers on them 3.
In rare cases, when streetcar markers run out, they should be replaced with any other available markers.
Squares
Square cards occur only in the gray, orange, and yellow districts. A square card takes on a value of "4" only when it is adjacent (vertically or horizontally) to at least 1 card that is part of the streetcar network (one that has a streetcar marker on it). Otherwise, the card takes on a value of "0".
Foundation Cards and Skyscrapers
When a player lays out a foundation card from the project deck (a card with the foundation symbol), they place it in the chosen area below the project board, and then place 1 foundation token on it. The player who later draws this card also takes the token found on it (the token stays on this card).
On a card with a foundation token that is located on the city board, a player may build a skyscraper. They may only do this, however, when the cards adjacent to it reach a combined value of "7" or higher. At any point in the game, once this condition is met, 1 of the available skyscraper figures must be placed on the card with the foundation token. The figure is worth 1 victory point at the end of the game.
Example 5: Alicja places a project card with a depot in her blue district 1. Thanks to this, the neighboring square card meets its condition (it is adjacent to a card that is part of the streetcar network) and reaches a value of "4" 2. Now the neighboring card with a foundation token also meets its condition (the neighboring cards reached a combined value greater than or equal to "7"). In this case, Alicja places a skyscraper figure on the card, for which she will receive 1 victory point at the end of the game 3.
Builder's Order
The first player to build a skyscraper receives the Builder's Order token. If, during the game, any other player builds more skyscrapers, they take over the token. Building the same number of skyscrapers does not entitle a player to take the token. The Builder's Order token may change owners many times during the game. At the end of the game it is worth 1 victory point.
Waterfront
Every waterfront card (with the symbol reducing skyscraper value by 1) placed on the city board reduces the required build value of every skyscraper on that player's board by 1.
Example 6: Michał has a card with a foundation token in his orange district 1. The neighboring cards have a combined value of "6" — that's not enough to build a skyscraper 2. Michał places a waterfront card 3, which reduces the required skyscraper build value to "6". Now he can place a skyscraper figure on the card 4.
Bonuses
When a player places a second card with the bonus symbol in the same district, they immediately take the corresponding bonus token (see "Bonus Tokens and Cards" below). A player may take advantage of the bonus for each district only once.
Bonus Tokens and Cards
Each district has a unique bonus token or an additional bonus card assigned to it. Each kind of token and card exists in 3 copies. If tokens or cards of a given kind run out, no more can be taken.
Example 7: Ola places a card with the bonus symbol in her gray district 1. In the same row she already has 1 bonus symbol 2, so she now meets the bonus condition (2 bonus symbols in 1 row) and may take either an additional universal card assigned to the gray district 3 or a track token 4. Ola chooses the additional card 5 and places it in any row.
The bonus tokens and cards are:
- +2-value token: this token can be placed on any card on your city board — it raises that card's value by 2.
- Universal card (value 4): this universal card must be placed in any row on your city board. This card's value is "4".
- Universal depot card: this universal card must be placed in any row on your city board. This card counts as a depot card. A streetcar marker must then be placed on it.
- 1½-point token: this token must be placed next to your city board. At the end of the game it is worth 1½ victory points.
- No-commitment token: this token must be placed next to your city board. At any point on their turn, a player may discard up to 2 commitment tokens. If they do this, they discard this token to the box.
- Track token: this token is not tied to any district. It may be taken instead of another bonus assigned to a district. It must be placed immediately on any card that does not have streetcar tracks. From that point on, that card is treated as if it had tracks on it.
End of Game
The game ends when 1 of 2 situations occurs:
- The last foundation token is transferred onto a project card.
- Any player fills their entire city board with project cards.
In both cases, the game ends immediately. Players then move on to tallying advantage points and final victory points.
Advantage Points
| Number of players | 4-player | 3-player | 2-player | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player's placement | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Advantage token for district | 2 | 1 | – | -1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Advantage token for streetcar network | 2½ | 1 | – | -1 | 2½ | 1 | 2½ |
At the end of the game, players receive advantage points for districts. To do this, they consider each district in turn and sum the value of the cards (the number of people symbols) in each row. Advantage tokens must be assigned according to the table above (starting with the player with the highest result for a given district).
In addition to the advantage tokens awarded for districts, players also receive tokens with points for having the greatest number of streetcar markers on their city board. Advantage tokens must be assigned according to the table above (starting with the player with the most streetcar markers).
In Case of a Tie
In case of a tie when assigning advantage points for districts, compare the value of the leftmost cards in the districts of the tied players. The higher value wins the tie. If there is still a tie, compare the next card, or the next one after that, if needed.
If 2 or more players hold cards of exactly the same values in a given district, move down to the row below (or to the first row, if the tie is being resolved for the last row).
In case of a tie when assigning advantage points for streetcar markers, compare the number of streetcar markers of the tied players, in the left-hand columns of their city boards. The greater number wins the tie. If both players have the same number of markers, compare the next column, or the next one after that, if needed.
If a tie still cannot be resolved (either for district advantages or for streetcar-marker advantages), the higher-value advantage token must be assigned to the player on whose turn the game ended. If that player is not one of the tied players, the higher-value advantage token must be assigned to whichever of the tied players sits closest to the left of the player who ended the game.
Final Scoring
To determine the winner, players sum all the victory points they have earned, including points for:
- built skyscrapers — 1 victory point for each skyscraper,
- the Builder's Order token — 1 victory point,
- a bonus token — 1½ victory points,
- district completion tokens — 1 victory point per token,
- district advantage tokens — victory points according to the value on the token,
- streetcar-network advantage tokens — the number of victory points according to the value on the token.
The player who has accumulated the most victory points wins. If 2 or more players have earned the same number of points, the person who has more streetcar markers on their city board wins. If the tie persists, the players share the victory.
From the Author
Thank you to all the testers who contributed to the creation of this game. Special thanks go to: Iain Adams, Karen Easteal, Sebastian Gieger, Florian Gratzer, Ross Inglis, Florian Ionescu, Kevin Jacklin, Dorette Peters, Bert Scholz, Vroni Sigl, Philipp Winter, and Michi Zitzelsberger.
Credits
- Game designer: Reiner Knizia
- Illustrations: Roman Kucharski
- Graphic design: Przemysław Fornal
- Game development: Przemek Wojtkowiak, Andrzej Olejarczyk
- Rulebook: Studio Rebel
- Production coordination: Sławomir Gacal
- Editing and proofreading: the Rebel team
- Typesetting: Artur Mikucki
© Dr. Reiner Knizia, 2022. All rights reserved.
Rebel Sp. z o.o., ul. Budowlanych 64c, 80-298 Gdańsk, Poland